Trio of Kentucky Oaks winners among the stars at Fasig-Tipton November sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, colloquially known as Fasig November, bills itself as the “Night of the Stars.” Under any name, this year’s catalog glitters.

Always an electric evening, the catalog for this year’s single-session sale the evening of Nov. 6 at Fasig-Tipton’s Newtown Paddocks headquarters in Lexington includes a trio of Kentucky Oaks winners in Secret Oath, Shedaresthedevil, and Cathryn Sophia; an Eclipse Award champion in Gamine; a Breeders’ Cup winner in Pizza Bianca; and scores of additional Grade 1 winners and producers.

In total, the catalog numbered 318 horses, including supplemental entries, as of Oct. 30. The makeup of the book may continue to change, as the company will review additional supplemental entries through the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 4 and 5 at nearby Keeneland. On the other side of the coin, horses may be scratched from the sale. Some connections enter the sale in order to keep their options open – especially with active racing fillies and mares – while finalizing their plans for the coming year.

The catalog sports 2016 Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia, a young broodmare who has twice brought seven figures in the auction ring; 2020 Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil, a multiple Grade 1 winner who brought $5 million in a partnership buyout at this sale last year; this year’s Kentucky Oaks heroine Secret Oath; Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner and Eclipse Award champion Gamine, carrying her first foal, who herself brought $1.8 million as a juvenile; 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca; and additional Grade 1/Group 1 winners Abscond, Bell’s the One, Bella Sofia, Bellafina, Blue Stripe, Byrama, Campanelle, Going Global, Going to Vegas, Grace Adler, Kalypso, Mucho Unusual, Ocean Road, Off the Tracks, Varda, and Wicked Whisper.

There could be a few more top-level performers in this catalog by sale time, as several fillies and mares entered in the sale also are pre-entered in Breeders’ Cup races, including Secret Oath (Distaff), Awake At Midnyte (Distaff), Be Your Best (Juvenile Fillies Turf), Blue Stripe (Distaff), Campanelle (Turf Sprint), Family Way (Filly and Mare Turf), and Lady Hollywood (Juvenile Turf Sprint).

In total, according to Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr., there are 56 graded stakes winners or graded stakes-producing broodmares cataloged.

“The Fasig-Tipton November sale annually offers the highest concentration of quality breeding stock in the world, and this year’s catalog more than lives up to that billing,” Browning said. “This catalog is as deep in quality as it is internationally diverse.”

The Sunday evening Fasig-Tipton sale begins with a selection of weanlings before moving on to the mares and prospects who will make up the bulk of the gross sales. The weanlings cataloged include a colt from the hotly anticipated first crop of champion Authentic who also is a half-sibling to multiple Grade 1 winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile contender Cyberknife; a full sibling to champion Caledonia Road; and full or half siblings to Grade 1 winners Casa Creed, Chi Town Lady, Colonel Liam, Leofric, Practical Joke, and Promises Fulfilled. Casa Creed (Turf Sprint) and Chi Town Lady (Filly and Mare Sprint) also are bound for the Breeders’ Cup.

The established broodmares in the catalog also could see their produce records updated at the Breeders’ Cup, as the dam of Cyberknife, carrying a full sibling, is cataloged, along with the dams of Grade 1 winners and race candidates Blazing Sevens (Juvenile), Chocolate Gelato (Juvenile Fillies), and Forte (Juvenile). Also cataloged are the dams of Grade 1/Group 1 winners Known Agenda, Maracuja, Onesto, and Princess Noor.

Even with this strong lineup, the Fasig-Tipton November sale will be hard-pressed to match its 2021 results, when the sale grossed more than $100 million for the first time in its history, fueled by 26 fillies or mares who fetched seven figures. Overall, 149 horses changed hands for the sale-record gross of $103,699,000. The average was $695,966, up 23 percent from the prior year and good for the second-highest average in sale history. The median was $300,000, up 50 percent from 2020 and finishing as the third-highest in the auction’s history.